Delving Into Leather Craft.. Whats What??

[WolfCrafter]

I'm just about to start delving into the 'World Of Leather' crafting, and thought it might be a good idea to start a thread, to help educate me and others on
'Whats What in the world of Leather Craft!'

So this is going out to all those Amazing Bush Crafters who know there Leather.. from 'Head to Rump'.. starting with the initial selection of leather, and ending with a well finished product!

Now I know there are different leather types..
Full-grain leather
Top-grain leather
Corrected-grain leather
Split leather
Types
.. and that Full-grain is the best.. (and most expensive!)

but after following a link from a previous thread to e-bay, I was overwhelmed with how many sub-types of leather there are!! (I would like to start with one of these smaller pieces before purchasing a larger piece!

I've heard a lot about 'Veg Tanned Leather' for Bush Crafting, so I'll take it this is the best to start with, and I can probably gauge the thickness I might require for certain items/products I would like to make.. but can anyone 'Demystify' the uses/differences in the description types I've come across?..

Tooling leather: best for..?
Leather Larps: best for..?
Moulding Leather: best for..?
Bridle Moulding Leather: best for?
Scrap Split Leather: best for?
Shoe Sole Leather: best for? (other than making shoes!)

Then, once the item is made, any help with the education of the following techniques would be helpful!
Stamping (emboss),
Edge Creasing,
Dyeing,
burnishing,
Hand-Sewing,
Finishing, (with carnauba cream im told)

The items I'm going to attempt to start with are a 'Knife Sheath', a 'Bahco Saw Sheath', and a 'Belt Bag/Items Pouch' to carry all the Bush essentials in!

Thanks for any input.. if there are other threads I've missed with similar info, links to them would be great!!
Thanks to the guys for the info on..On The Hunt For Leather
Cheers!!

 

[leon-1]

Tooling leather tends to be veg tanned of a sufficient thickness to either stamp or tool it. Stamping is no more than embossing, however true tooling is the marking out of a pattern, picture or text using a pencil, those marks are then followed using a swivel knife. The person tooling (carving or stamping) will then use various tools to provide relief, texture and contour using the lines carved using the swivel knife by hammering various tools onto the slightly dampened surface of the leather.

Leather Larps. This tends to refer that the leather being sold is suitable for re-enactment purposes, it normally looks a bit distressed / knackered. There is nothing wrong with it, it just naturally looks a bit older.

Never having come across either Moulding or Bridle Moulding leather I can't tell you.

Scrap split leather. can be quite thin and the pieces tend to be smaller, but they are suitable for and can be made into small flexible drawstring pouches if you find stuff which is flexible enough.

She sole leather can be used for wet formed sheaths for larger knives, effectively it's very thick veg tanned. If you can get long enough pieces you may be able to use it as shoulder straps for a homemade canvas bergan.

Stamping (yes embossing), can be looked at as 2 things, the first and more difficult skill is leather tooling. The second is effectively hammering a makers mark into something. The leather is dampened to allow it to take a form that is not naturally it's ownand then a design is effectively hammered into it. Tooling leather normally needs to be of a reasonable thickness, but it's not always a full veg tan, both Oak Bark Tanned and German Half Tan can be used for tooling and can give beatuifull results.

Edge creasing is used to both seal fibres and to make a mark. Normally you can mark a recessed line near to the edge of your leather work using an edge crease.

Dyeing, is pretty much what it says on the tin. There are different types of dye, but generally the process of dyeing them is the same. Dampen the leather, this allows the dye to penetrate into the leather and also provides a more even finish. Then dye brushing from side to side, then up and down and then through the diagonal in two separate axis.

Burnishing is a bit like the act of polishing, but it can also be used to seal the edges of cut leather. Apply gum tragacanth, then using a smooth hard surface like the side of bic biro and apply pressure to leather with the biro whilst rubbing the biro up and down the edge. The edge will become polished.

Hand sewing is a vast subject, there are a number of different types of stitch, from saddle through running to whip stitch, all are suited to different types of leather and project.

Finishing is pretty much what it says on the tin, it's the last bits, be it applying coats of resolene before hand waxing or the application of atom wax or carnuba cream, you may also look at burnishing of edges as a part of finishing.

 

[Hugo]

An interesting thread this, I'm all eyes and ears.

 

[leon-1]

Cut the pattern out, mark all of your leather tooling (stitch grooving and stitch marking any holes that require punching) before then dyeing the leather. Stitch once dry and after you have glued anything that you need to glue in place.

As a small hint, I would say get some offcuts of leather and practice stitching first. You can have a nice design, but if your stitching is pants it'll look pretty awful.

Bevel edges after stitching. Bevel edges on veg tanned leather when they are over a thickness of 2mm, it looks so much better, but only do it once you have evened the edge using a sanding block. I know this means that you will require to touch up the edges and the bevel with a bit of dye, but believe me it's worth it.

Burnish all edges before finishing and waxing.

 

[WolfCrafter]

Thanks Leon-1 for your extensive indepth reply, it has helped me very much!

Here's a link to some gorgeous Leather working a friend PM me in the week for anyone starting out!

http://stleather.blog.com/2008/6/

It has a lovely pictorial guide on how to make a simple Mora sheath! Along with many other pictorial guides.. Wallets etc!

 

[Elines]

Yes - this looks really promising - I have already had some really good help from Leon-1 and got the tools etc I need to make (eg) a bahco sheath (using free furniture warehouse leather) so dont' you experienced people be afraid of making it too simplistic/stating the obvious

 

[Black Sheep]

A good place to start is having a look on here.........

http://www.leprevo.co.uk/index.htm

"The how to" section is very good, also have a look at the "technical info'" section as well it explains a bit about leather cuts and types.

There is a good tutorial on sheath making in "the edged tool" section on here or have a look over on "British Blades" they have some good tutorials.

Beware of buying cheap unfinished leather splits these are no more that thick suede


Richard

 

[Black Sheep]

Yes - this looks really promising - I have already had some really good help from Leon-1 and got the tools etc I need to make (eg) a bahco sheath (using free furniture warehouse leather) so dont' you experienced people be afraid of making it too simplistic/stating the obvious

You might find "Furniture" leather a bit thin, might be better for making pouches out of

Richard

 

[Chance]

A naive question, I'm afraid (I should really have done my own research before asking): if the experienced could suggest just one how-to-bushleather book, which would it be ?
I've also been thinking of getting leathered in 2010.

 

[WolfCrafter]

A link for Leather Stamps on e-bay

A link to Custom Stamp Makers!

A link to Someone Who Stamps For You! .. worth a look just for the pictures on ideas!

 

[WolfCrafter]

A 'Hub' Link I found, linking to lots of Leather Crafting websites and supplys!

Might be worth bookmarking to rummage through later!

 

[Elines]

You might find "Furniture" leather a bit thin, might be better for making pouches out of

Richard

Yes - but for a first attempt I guess it is easy to work with and as it's free it doesn't mean I will be wasting expensive material but will gain some useful experience.

And if I end up with anything useful I will still have only spent what it would have cost me to buy a ready made one but I will still have the tools to use.

The nearest to sewing I have come is fitting a replacement shirt button so I have a long way to go

 

[leon-1]

You might find "Furniture" leather a bit thin, might be better for making pouches out of

Richard

This is true, but since it's a saw and not a knife you don't really need a thick, hard leather that is there to protect you from the blade. The blade is locked closed as well on a Laplander.

If you have any worries about the thickness use two layers either laminated using some form of cement or stitched around the top edge before forming around the saw to make the sheath.

 

[leon-1]

A naive question, I'm afraid (I should really have done my own research before asking): if the experienced could suggest just one how-to-bushleather book, which would it be ?
I've also been thinking of getting leathered in 2010.

I would love to mate, but I don't think there is actually a "single book"

Mountainman Crafts and skills by David Montgomery has some good simple ideas in it, but they are very similar to some of the ones in Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger. Both books are very good though.

 

[leon-1]

I was diggin around and found a number of things that people may or may not be interested in, but for anyone getting started I would say have a look at this site. This is the Missouri department of conservation and some of the projects are pretty good.

 

[rancid badger]

Buy Al Stohlmans; "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather" £10 plus p&p from Leprevo or , no doubt, elsewhere

If you are serious about getting into leather crafting; then this will give you plenty of information and advice on how to do it and what to buy.

Full grain veg tan, is the material of choice for almost all "utility projects", such as sheaths, pouches and belts.

I always use top quality hide now, as I have found that cheaper leather, suffers from various defects and snags; from variation in thickness, to surface defects and often 'soft spots'.

For soft bags; use European water buffalo. This is a by product of the mozzarella cheese industry and is wonderful for its strength and softness. It can also be dyed almost any colour or shade you like.

You can't use upholstery leather for proper sheaths. You can make a long bag or tube to carry a knife or saw but this is nowhere near as safe as using a good quality, stiff leather.

One final point: PLEASE! on no account, be tempted to use a blxxxy dremel or similar mini drill, to make stitch holes!!!

There really is nothing worse, than to see an otherwise nice piece of work, ruined by a load of round stitch holes

Stitch holes in leather, should be diamond shaped, the same shape, as the cross section of the blade of the awl or pricking iron, that makes them.

I'm off now, to chop my soap box into kindling!

best wishes

R.B.

P.S. Leon's talking a lot of sense

 

[Elines]

Below is a starting tool kit (based on advice to me from Leon-1 and included here with his permission) which you might want to adapt to your own particular circumstances, but will give you a start:

These have the codes that Leprevo use preceding them but you could get then from elsewhere.

T26 Saddlers needles (size 1)
.
T10 sewing awl handle or T63 Saddlers awl handle (the saddlers awl handle may be more comfortable for some people).

T11 1.75 inch awl blade.

T47 Overstitch wheel (its proper use is for setting the stitch, but tends to get used for marking stitches). For thinner leathers you'll want 7 to an inch in all likelihood, most on here use 5 or 6 to an inch.

T45 Stitch Groover adjustable (really for use on heavier leathers)*

T46 Edge beveller no'2 (again for thicker leathers).

T128 Bone Folder (Apparently very good for burnishing an edge)*

C10 Beeswax for waxing linen thread.

TR14 18/3 Linen thread (you can dye the natural stuff any colour you want). This is the finest on Le Provo

Some form of glue. Some people use contact adhesive, others use PVA.

A cutting mat (normally available from pound shops).

A craft knife with exchangeable blades (Some use a folding lock knife that takes Stanley blades).

Good quality Zinc Oxide type of tape to protect your fingers is a must, linen cuts are both bothersome and painful as are calluses that split. Boots tend to sell the better stuff. Mueller tape (used by climbers) is similar to the stuff I use, but mine came from the military.

You can add other stuff later on eg strap cutters, hole punches, strap end chisels, English crew punches, heated creases, freehand groovers, Races, embossing tools, skiving knives, safety bevellers, rivets, press studs, setting tools, pricking irons and a host of other tools that can cost a lot of money.

I personally did not get the items marked with * (Edge beveller, Bone Folder) as I am starting off using thin furniture warehouse leathers. The total cost of the other stuff from Le Provo was about £18. This is what it would cost me to buy the two things I particularly want to make (Laplander sheath, water bottle carrier)

I didn’t know how to fit the awl blade into the awl handle, because I didn’t know:

• if the black end was different to the shiny end (ooo err)
• how to get the blade in to the handle without pushing it and risking it snapping off

Leon-1 advises (and not yet done by me as about to go on holiday):

The blackened section fits into the handle. The handle has a recess in the middle, make a hole in that recess (using small drill bits) then push the blackened end into the small hole that you have created.

Once the blade is set in the handle turn the handle upside down, then making sure you don't impale your hand on the awl blade, slam the rear of the awl handle into a solid object. The inertia sets the blade deeper into the handle and means that you are not applying yaw or torque that could damage the blade.

As regards how far into the handle the awl blade should go

With the saddler’s awl blade, measure its length, with a 1.5 inches have an inch protruding from the handle.

Have a bit more protruding with a 1.75” blade which is what you would use with thicker leathers ?up to an inch thick.

I have actually done my first bit of stitching and it is pretty rough but it should be good enough for my purposes.

 

[Elines]

Leon-1 has been really helpful but I agreed with him that I would put any of my further queries on this post to avoid hasslling him.

My latest query therefore is:

How do you actually use the beeswax block on the linen thread, and why?

 

[Elines]

Quote from Rancid Badger:

"Stitch holes in leather, should be diamond shaped, the same shape, as the cross section of the blade of the awl or pricking iron, that makes them."

Thanks - I hadn't realised that - I have been pushing the awl through and then twisting it round to make sure the needle would go through ok

 

[rancid badger]

Quote from Rancid Badger:

"Stitch holes in leather, should be diamond shaped, the same shape, as the cross section of the blade of the awl or pricking iron, that makes them."

Thanks - I hadn't realised that - I have been pushing the awl through and then twisting it round to make sure the needle would go through ok

Seriously; I can't emphasize enough, how much easier all this would be, if you invested £10 in the book

I see loads of people wanting to start making stuff in leather, wasting money on stuff they don't really need and "saving" money on stuff they really do!

The book I recommended will explain all the basic ins and outs.
The idea of the awl being diamond shaped, is so that you make your holes diagonally, across your stitch groove, the ends of the awl cut should be between the edges of your groove. This makes for a stronger seam as well as a better looking one.
But trying to explain this, without the benefit of drawings, is nigh on impossible!!!

BUY THE BOOK

but not off amazon! its £20 on there!
It's full of "eureka moments"

best wishes

R.B.